Every now and again a record comes out that restores your faith in the idea of an album, of a concentrated collection of tracks not randomly put together but having a purpose and a unifying theme. 'Full Moon at the Comet Hotel', the latest release by celebrated art rockers The Necessary Animals, is one of those. Its expression of that theme is broad: reinvented new wave, ambient jazz fusion and (almost) classic rock somehow sit together as a logical whole. This is not concept rock however. It’s more an album that induces darkness, angst, anomie and loss, and that is just from its excellent hybrid musical creations. Many of the lyrics give further voice to this vibe.
As has been observed elsewhere, this record could, in places
anyway, be a soundtrack to an edgy, period movie. However it equally allows
itself to breath beyond dark shadows and queasy feelings. The wonderous seven
minute plus experimentation of the album’s penultimate track, ‘Psychedelic
Green’, gives leading Necessary Animal Keith Rodway a sci-fi movie villain vocal
treatment, placed in a musical theatre that reinvents early '70s Miles Davis
with driving rock drum patterns and an other-worldly groove. Keith gets the same
vocal treatment on ‘Natalie Says’, the album’s opener, which could easily be the
opening scene for that movie. One you can see, hear and feel. This is not film noire
however. More a thrusting, musically bold, journey through modern feelings of
breakdown, but combined with hope not despair.
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| Cover art c/o Necessary Animals/Aldora Britain Records |
As ever, Necessary Animals draw on an impressive network of
accomplished musicians. In addition to Keith’s own distinct top-end bassisms,
and Amanda Thompson’s inspired keyboard treatments, Kath Alsopp on fiddle (and some
vocal duties), Hutch Demouilpied on trumpet, and Marcus Sullivan on guitar are
among the many valuable musical contributors. A classy production job is
provided by longtime Necessaries’ partner Fritz Catlin.
There are, it has to be said, two tracks on the first half
of the album that start awkwardly, almost hesitantly – ‘Daddy Saw David Lynch’
and ‘Burning Angel’. This sense doesn’t go away on repeated listens. Yet by
their close these two tracks have lifted you beyond any normal listening
experience, as each performance builds and creates a logic out of what
initially sounded faltering.
Not to take itself too seriously, the album also presents us
with the hilarious but clever ‘Multi-Story Car-Park’. This is New New Wave with
a modern twist. ‘I’m just a plastic bag in a multi-story car park,’ goes the,
this time, untreated Keith lead vocal. I can relate to this.
As with past Necessary Animals’ records, many of the vocal duties are
shared between a range of very different female singers. Maike Elena Schmidt brings a
suitably haunting quality to ‘Rosalie Song’, and Amanda Thompson and Kath
Alsopp combine very effectively on ‘Henry Walks Home’. Amanda, the other lead
Necessary Animal, as well as the driving force behind The Big Believe, is once again the Necessaries' vocal star. The album’s closer, 'The Last
News', is one of its strongest tracks, and Amanda’s sung performance on this is
a joy to hear. In fact this will surely be the album’s hit single. It has that
accessible ‘classic’ quality but a musical depth and interaction that is both
rock and something altogether different. ‘Still’ is a three minute gloriously atmospheric
piece, in part reminiscent of ‘Heroes’/’Low’ period Bowie instrumentals, but again,
never getting lost in retro land. It’s always, like all of this record, of its
time yet somehow timeless.
Surely that is the mark of a classic album isn’t it?
'Full Moon at the Comet Hotel' by Necessary Animals was released on Aldora Britain Records on November 27 2024.
